Forum > AFK Merchants
I would be astonished if this were the reason.
I worked in a public library until recently and there were also anxious impatient people hovering around the public internet access machines. If someone left their character afk at one and went off for a walk or looked like they weren't using it someone else would demand the machine.
Different cultures of course, maybe in Asia it is normal to rent PC time then read a magazine or chat.
Stabs
* typo I meant always not also.
Note to Jon and Tim, we can't edit posts.
Stabs
It does sort of make sense; aside from just plain 'Foreigners Are Different', the main variance has to be pay-by-the-minute vs monthly subscription. From a cold hard cash standpoint, the ideal western MMO gamer is one who pays for a month, but never actually logs in, using server resources etc, where as the ideal far eastern web-cafe going customer is one that stays connected for as long as possible. I couldn't say how that works with people queing up behind you IRL to get on the PC though, as Stabs points out - I've never actually been in a web-cafe so have no idea what the arrangement is. Play for X Minutes, or Play Til You're Done?
Mind you, it could just be that the Bad Idea was the one that was had first, and no-one thought of a traditional Auction House system until much later. EverQuest's first stab at it all was The Bazaar zone (circa. Shadows of Luclin), which featured exactly the above AFK-Merchant mechanic. I hated it even then. I can't remember who first added the Auction House as we know it today (do chip in if you do know!), but I'm fairly certain they were a more recent addition to the genre.
The irony of it all was that when Shadows of Luclin was new, I was still internet gaming via dial-up, and paying per minute for the phone bill, whereas my EQ subscription was monthly, meaning that BT were quids in because of it, but SOE were not.
(Posts should be editable for 15 minutes after posting, but it locks them after that. I'm not sure what options Jon has to play with in that regard though.)
Van Hemlock
Yes, yes, I know they are very very stupid. I know people wonder why they are popular, especially in the Far East. My guess? I'd take a punt on the fact that games aren't paid for by subs over there, but you just pay by the hour in a net cafe. The cafes would be very keen to only install games with this facility. People sit for hours "AFK" to sell st00f. What do you reckon? Have I missed something?